2nd year in a row they laid an egg

[tentoes4rings]

Serious question. Was 2014 our last NCAA Tournament win? If so, that's crazy to think of. I know we had a few rough years under Ollie after the national championship etc. Correct me if I'm wrong.

In 2016 we won one game in the tourney, nothing since.

 

[giddyup]

Hurley has actually been able to bring in some very good recruiting classes rank wise in the time he's been here. I have to give him credit for that because when he took the program over we were in the dumps playing in the AAC and we were completely irrelevant nationally. He was able to bring in an NBA lottery level talent and a bunch of guys ranked 40-100 which is pretty impressive given the dire situation we were in. The fact is that we won't be getting the top 30 ranked guys that change programs without DH showing that he can win some damn games in March. I don't think we start recruiting nationally again and getting big time talent until we're consistently ranked in the top 15 and making S16 or E8 runs year in year out.

Seems to me that bringing in highly ranked recruits that don’t deliver doesn’t speak very well about player development and certainly overall team construction. I’m glad his big mouth can land some prospects but that’s going to dry up if he can’t get past the first round of anything.

 

[Orc]

'16 I believe. The team with Gibbs, Adams, Hamilton, Brimah, Purvis, etc. beat Colorado in an 8/9 game and then lost to KU.

Gosh . Thats like mid major status. Hope this drought will end soon . Ughh

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Gosh . Thats like mid major status. Hope this drought will end soon . Ughh

Waaaa

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I may get hammered for saying this, but when JC announced his retirement, the haters predicted the program's glory days were over. Then we won in 2014 and shut them up. But if you look at our program except for that, no conference championships or NCAA Tournament success, it seems the haters were proven correct. I think the body of work is large enough at the point. Being back in the Big East better provide the spark.

Yeah, sure, if time stopped today you’d be right. Fortunately for the rest of us it doesn’t.

 

[Watchdog]

Transfer portal. If we don't use it we're screwed and Hurley may very well get fired.

I think to keep with DH's philosophy of building and maintaining the right culture he'll need to be careful about the portal.

A point guard with the right mindset yes, especially if it's someone the staff is familiar with and who may want to move because of a coaching change.

The big unknown is, from among the last two year's highly touted recruits, who will be the players they were expected to be? If few or none, the ugly specter of recruiting mistakes comes to the fore and he may have to risk the culture issue to bring in gunslingers. Otherwise the image he's created loses the momentum he's had.

 

[tennmike]

The narrative that the portal is bad for culture is erroneous. Martin were transfers and have been excellent team players.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

The narrative that the portal is bad for culture is erroneous. Martin were transfers and have been excellent team players.

I get what you're saying but Martin was recruited by Hurley to Rhode Island so it's a bit different than a traditional transfer.

Incidentally, it blows that he was a ghost in his last game in the uniform but I can't be alone in thinking that Tyrese turned out to be much, much better than anticipated.

 

[Ballas TV]

This team was definitely missing something. I can't put my finger on it, but I never felt there was a go to guy. I hope there's that guy on the horizon.

No shabazz no kemba not even a boat or Jalen adams

 

[freescooter]

Culture is highly overrated. There are winners and there are guys who can’t win. The Patriots almost to a man hated Belechick and thought Brady was a primaDona the Thurman Munson Yankees hated each other. We need guys who know basketball and can win. Make plays under pressure. They can brawl At half court right up to tip off as long as the can play as a team once the ball is in the air. They can insist on traveling to games on there own, be utterly miserable people, as long as they make 3s block shots and don’t let some guy run past them ala Jackson on Thursday.

As to Hurley’s recruiting prowess, who knows. Diggins barely got off the bench and almost single handedly Snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Georgetown. Springs needs Mapquest to find the floor. Johnson too. Hawkins seems fragile, but we’ll see. I think a good player not great. We need a sure scorer, a true pg, and a 4 for next year. I don’t care if they come from. And I don’t care about culture. You want culture go to Jorgensen, not Gampel.

 

[Huskymagic]

100% agree. The recruiting isn't as great as portrayed on here. Of Hurley's recruits only Bouk and Sanogo have panned out so far.

Gaff has done nothing, AJAcks so far not much though he has the talent, Akok nothing due to injury, Springs never plays in 3 years, BAdams nothing while here, JAvonte Brown Ferguson another swing and miss, Sool Diggins and Sam Johnson didn't play as freshman. We have no idea about Corey Floyd or Karaban.

Hurley has relied on a lot of Ollie recruits during his tenure here: Jalen Adams, CV, Carlton, Whaley, Polley have been some of our most important players. The interesting thing all 5 guys were all conference guys in some capacity in the AAC/Big East.

We have to get it done in recruiting particularly at the point guard position, and the wing position which are not where they need to be in order to win in March.

 

[GotNets?]

100% agree. The recruiting isn't as great as portrayed on here. Of Hurley's recruits only Bouk and Sanogo have panned out so far.

Gaff has done nothing, AJAcks so far not much though he has the talent, Akok nothing due to injury, Springs never plays in 3 years, BAdams nothing while here, JAvonte Brown Ferguson another swing and miss, Sool Diggins and Sam Johnson didn't play as freshman. We have no idea about Corey Floyd or Karaban.

Hurley has relied on a lot of Ollie recruits during his tenure here: Jalen Adams, CV, Carlton, Whaley, Polley have been some of our most important players. The interesting thing all 5 guys were all conference guys in some capacity in the AAC/Big East.

We have to get it done in recruiting particularly at the point guard position, and the wing position which are not where they need to be in order to win in March.

Bold but true… I’d like to see someone refute this.

 

[pj]

Bold but true… I’d like to see someone refute this.

One hypothesis is that Hurley's recruits are less talented than their recruiting rankings. The alternative hypothesis is that Hurley has devoted playing time and development effort to the upperclassmen and the younger players just haven't seized playing time yet.

I think the problem with recruiting is not the talent but the roster balance. We recruited some big men who don't play (Akok, Springs, Samson) and were lacking in guards, especially playmakers/distributors. We need more guys who can create and score from the perimeter, and more footspeed.

On the coaching side, Hurley seems to look about 1-2 games ahead. Maybe that's a good attitude for a player, but a head coach needs to spend April anticipating what he's going to need the next March, and then spending the next 11 months building that. The November-December-January games have to be building the depth, versatility, and style that will win in March. It seems like our early season underinvested in the future.

 

[gtcam]

Hurley has recruited exactly one scorer . . . Bouknight.
Of Hurley's recruits only Bouk and Sanogo have panned out so far.

I keep wondering what the hell did Bouknight do at UConn besides a few highlight clips and have 2 games of full body cramps on national TV that was brushed under the rug. Fact - the cramps were not due to physical exhaustion or improper hydration.

As I recall about his recruitment: Official visits to UConn, Virginia Tech and Miami. The teams that were strongest on him - UConn, V Tech, Miami, Minnesota, Illinois, DePaul, Maryland and URI. Illinois, Minnesota and Maryland recruited guards and were not interested. He was a 4* guard with lots of talent but also known baggage.

I hope that he gets his head screwed on straight soon. He is in a profession that is very fluid and talented performers are plentiful. Unless you are a superstar, there are quite a few free agents who are as talented as guys like JB and take drafted players jobs regularly. It's in JB's and UConn's best interest that he has a very good NBA career and I hope he does but he has not gotten off on the right foot.

The narrative that the portal is bad for culture is erroneous. Martin were transfers and have been excellent team players.

Martin was a DH guy so a comfort level already there

 

[Tenspro2002]

100% agree. The recruiting isn't as great as portrayed on here. Of Hurley's recruits only Bouk and Sanogo have panned out so far.

Gaff has done nothing, AJAcks so far not much though he has the talent, Akok nothing due to injury, Springs never plays in 3 years, BAdams nothing while here, JAvonte Brown Ferguson another swing and miss, Sool Diggins and Sam Johnson didn't play as freshman. We have no idea about Corey Floyd or Karaban.

Hurley has relied on a lot of Ollie recruits during his tenure here: Jalen Adams, CV, Carlton, Whaley, Polley have been some of our most important players. The interesting thing all 5 guys were all conference guys in some capacity in the AAC/Big East.

We have to get it done in recruiting particularly at the point guard position, and the wing position which are not where they need to be in order to win in March.

"Only a 1st round NBA draft pick and a 1st team all-conference player" is a bit ridiculous.

Also pretty disingenuous to sweep Cole and Martin under the rug, especially in this era when recruiting transfers is equally important -- if not more important -- than recruiting high school kids.

And on the Ollie guys? Hurley turned CV from undisciplined chucker into a leader. He turned Whaley from benchwarmer to BE DPOY. He got something out of Carlton and Polley that KO never would have.

 

[August_West]

I get what you're saying but Martin was recruited by Hurley to Rhode Island so it's a bit different than a traditional transfer.

Incidentally, it blows that he was a ghost in his last game in the uniform but I can't be alone in thinking that Tyrese turned out to be much, much better than anticipated.

Was he?

I guess his 3 shooting this year was. But he is the poster child of this year. He was an absolute ghost as many times this season as he was a hero. And he was both to be sure. He is a huge enigma right down to the fact that in every warm up this year he refused to wear what the rest of team did.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Was he?

I guess his 3 shooting this year was. But he is the poster child of this year. He was an absolute ghost as many times this season as he was a hero. And he was both to be sure. He is a huge enigma right down to the fact that in every warm up this year he refused to wear what the rest of team did.

Well, to me he was. I expected some toughness off the bench. Maybe he was more than that because he had to be and on a better team he wouldn't have been.

I'll take your word for it on the sweatpants.

 

[August_West]

Well, to me he was. I expected some toughness off the bench. Maybe he was more than that because he had to be and on a better team he wouldn't have been.

I'll take your word for it on the sweatpants.

It was the shirt always the shirt. At games in UConn warmups, tyrese would wear a long-sleeved non logo'd white long sleeve which looked like it was his undershirt for games. (because he wore them). Despite the rest of team in warmup attire. And all year I thought OK fine, that is his deal. Then at MSG everyone warmed up in the "Ball in" long sleeves every team had made for them, a white long sleeve, so what did reese do then? Wife beater. I never understood, and still dont on why he felt the need to be the team outlier. He just carried himself differently, which is fine in and of itself, but Ive watched him real close this year and he is just very different. Weird personality.

And honestly? Not good enough to tolerate that on a college team. You better be special to pull that. No one here can honestly say he had a special season.

 

[Hungryhusky99]

It was the shirt always the shirt. At games in UConn warmups, tyrese would wear a long-sleeved non logo'd white long sleeve which looked like it was his undershirt for games. (because he wore them). Despite the rest of team in warmup attire. And all year I thought OK fine, that is his deal. Then at MSG everyone warmed up in the "Ball in" long sleeves every team had made for them, a white long sleeve, so what did reese do then? Wife beater. I never understood, and still dont on why he felt the need to be the team outlier. He just carried himself differently, which is fine in and of itself, but Ive watched him real close this year and he is just very different. Weird personality.

And honestly? Not good enough to tolerate that on a college team. You better be special to pull that. No one here can honestly say he had a special season.

I hope this is a troll.